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alanffm's review
5.0
Regardless of how you feel about the Israeli-Arab conflict, The Case for Israel should stand out as a guide to understanding at least one side of a very complicated debate. Dershowitz, a famous lawyer and orator, lays out Israel's case in a legalistic and well articulated manner that could not be any clearer. Strongly recommended reading for anyone interested in learning about Israel, politics, history or law.
xatsil's review
2.0
I personally didn't like this book, in large part because I don't like being given a one-sided story; I much prefer to be presented with all the facts so that I can make up my own mind. Instead, this book is full of partial truths, showcasing only one side of a matter in a way that induces heavy bias. I'm not sure I can hold this against the author, though, as he clearly in the title that he intents to argue a point in this book like the law professor he is, defending his side without any attempt to understand or humanize the other side. He consistently misrepresents Palestinians by treating them as one homogeneous group, but uses different groups for arguing different points. Most of the time he refers to the occupied Palestinians' terrorism, but then cites polls where Palestinian Israelis indicate they would not want to transfer to a Palestinian state because they prefer democratic rule, never mentioning that these two groups are fundamentally different and thus have very different relationships to the Israeli state. His portrayal of Palestinians is disingenuous and weakens his argument.
One redeeming idea the book puts forward is that of Israel being singled out for bad behaviour that other countries are far more guilty of, as well as singling out Israel's policies without any sort of understanding of its particular context in the world (i.e., several defensive wars against nations that vowed to eliminate the Jewish state, the first one starting on the day after its declaration of independence). I appreciate that Dershowitz emphasizes that this does not excuse bad policies Israel espouses, but that there is a huge bias in how critics protest these policies that damns Israel but overlooks when all other countries do far worse.
Another redeeming quality of the book is that it at least seems to argue for Israel on criteria that I find important, such as human rights, civil liberties, citizen welfare, military ethics, and other pertinent subjects. Dershowitz sets out an argument that doesn't have anything to do with what's written in the Bible, and thus that can be intelligently debated. This makes it a good starting point for discussion.
Overall, I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone unless it's thoroughly balanced with an objective source (such as The Arab-Israeli Conflict by David Lesch). This book is a piece of rhetorical writing, and should be read as such. It is *not* a definitive nor historical source.
One redeeming idea the book puts forward is that of Israel being singled out for bad behaviour that other countries are far more guilty of, as well as singling out Israel's policies without any sort of understanding of its particular context in the world (i.e., several defensive wars against nations that vowed to eliminate the Jewish state, the first one starting on the day after its declaration of independence). I appreciate that Dershowitz emphasizes that this does not excuse bad policies Israel espouses, but that there is a huge bias in how critics protest these policies that damns Israel but overlooks when all other countries do far worse.
Another redeeming quality of the book is that it at least seems to argue for Israel on criteria that I find important, such as human rights, civil liberties, citizen welfare, military ethics, and other pertinent subjects. Dershowitz sets out an argument that doesn't have anything to do with what's written in the Bible, and thus that can be intelligently debated. This makes it a good starting point for discussion.
Overall, I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone unless it's thoroughly balanced with an objective source (such as The Arab-Israeli Conflict by David Lesch). This book is a piece of rhetorical writing, and should be read as such. It is *not* a definitive nor historical source.
oregon_small_fry's review
Reading for PSU PS 362.
I have faith in my professor so I'm not going to make assumptions on this book... yet.
I have faith in my professor so I'm not going to make assumptions on this book... yet.
sarahalfayez's review
1.0
If you want to read a bunch of lies, this is the book for you. Not only is it full of factual inaccuracies (botched names, numbers…) it appears Dershowitz plagiarized an equally terrible book, From Time Immemorial, by Joan Peters.
Attempting to justify stealing land from indigenous people was not enough for Mr. Dershowitz, he also made sure to steal from a woman.
Completely disappointed in this. Was hoping to get a logical perspective from the other side, but I guess there isn’t one.
Attempting to justify stealing land from indigenous people was not enough for Mr. Dershowitz, he also made sure to steal from a woman.
Completely disappointed in this. Was hoping to get a logical perspective from the other side, but I guess there isn’t one.